


Lights in Unexpected Places

by Madame_Shrimp (orphan_account)



Category: Hunger Games Series - All Media Types, Hunger Games Trilogy - Suzanne Collins, The Hunger Games (Movies)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Bonding, Eventual Romance, F/M, Implied Relationships, Mockingjay, Past Character Death, Past Relationship(s), Rare Pairings, low key ship, unlikely friendship
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-11-04
Updated: 2016-11-04
Packaged: 2018-08-24 14:52:20
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,825
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8376334
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/orphan_account/pseuds/Madame_Shrimp
Summary: Now that Coin is dead, Johanna intends to celebrate in her own company, but she doesn't expect to run into Gale Hawthorne.





	

**Author's Note:**

> This ship is kind of a rare pair for me, and I still don't like Gale, but I think it would be interesting to see two people who are full of passion become friends and perhaps, something more. Therefor, you have this little experiment before you. I hope you guys like it.

* * *

 

 

"Ding-dong. The witch is dead."

 

 

"Oh, Johanna. You shouldn't say things like that."

 

 

"Why bother? It's not like I'm going to get sent in front of a firing squad for it. Coin is dead and good riddance. That woman was a psychopath." Johanna tugged at her sweater absently.

 

 

Annie furrowed her brow and twisted a piece of her long red hair, something that she'd gotten into the habit of doing ever since Finnick died. "But you gave her your support for another Hunger Games."

 

 

"So? That doesn't mean that I'd have the woman over for tea. Though, I'm pretty sure she was a bona fide coffee drinker and not a tea drinker. People who drink coffee tend to be more of the brutal type, or so I've read."

 

 

"Tsk, I don't know about you sometimes." Annie yawned and stretched out her arms.

 

 

Johanna could tell by the heaviness of her friend's eyes that she was sleepy. Fighting sleep, too, but she really needed her rest. "Hey, you should get some sleep. We can hang in the morning."

 

 

"Mm, no. I'm not tired," the redhead replied, even though her eyes told a different story.

 

 

Rolling her eyes, Johanna stood up and tugged Annie's hand with her own. "Hey. Don't make me carry you to your room and tuck you in like a baby."

 

 

"If you do, would you read me a story?"

 

 

A bark of laughter left Johanna's mouth. "Not on your life. Now, get your little salmony butt to bed."

 

 

Annie widened her eyes and stuck out her bottom lip, pouting. "I really hate those awful fish nicknames you make up." She rubbed her eyes and slowly trudged off to her room. "Let's have breakfast together, okay? Or brunch. Something."

 

 

"Definitely. I have nothing on my schedule. We'll make a day of it."

 

 

"Okay," came the faint reply.

 

 

After counting to fifty, Johanna poked her head around the corner just to make sure that her friend had reached the bed. The ruffling of sheets and soft snoring let her know that Annie was comfortably nestled on her bed.

 

 

If only Johanna could find comfort so easily.

 

 

She left the former District Four room and headed to the elevator. "Guess I'll just have to party by myself." Once she was inside, she chuckled to herself, remembering the last time she'd been in her with Katniss, Haymitch and Peeta before the Quarter Quell.

 

 

Stripping down in front of those three had been the most fun she'd had in a while. Most people - well, most people who weren't from the Capitol - would consider that to be very vulgar and immodest. After the life Johanna had become accustomed to living, she didn't feel things on such a level anymore.

 

 

The games had changed her for the worse and also for the better. She had no one to really care about, except Annie because she felt like the girl's guardian of protector if that didn't sound crazy as hell.

 

 

Annie needed someone to look out for her in the future and Johanna had stepped up to be a shoulder for the girl if she needed one. Annie was going to leave for District Four in a week, but both women promised to correspond back and forth. Perhaps they could heal a bit that way. Well, Annie could more than Johanna because there was no way in hell Johanna was going to see a shrink or a psychiatrist or whatever else they had in place for recovering ex-tributes.

 

 

The only others that Johanna felt a connection to were Katniss and Peeta, but they lived far away in District Twelve and while Johanna liked them, she didn't like them enough to follow them there. Besides, it would probably be awkward for Katniss and regardless of what anyone said about her, Johanna wasn't the type of woman to go where she wasn't wanted.

 

 

She knew better not to push herself on others if it would spare them unnecessary pain. After all, she was kind of an expert on pain. Before she could stop them, flashbacks of the awful torture the Capitol inflicted on her came back into her head.

 

 

Johanna grunted and rubbed her temples with her fingers, trying to force the unwelcome images out.

 

 

The elevator came to a stop at the eighth floor and Johanna got off, heading to her room. Annie may be asleep and not available to hang out, but Johanna would celebrate anyway. To the fall of the Vapitol and Presidents Snow and Coin.

 

 

As she turned the corner and reached the door to her rooms, she furrowed a brow and cocked her head at the sight in front of her. There was a tall soldier standing outside of her room and he seemed be waiting for her.

 

 

Once Johanna came closer, she realized who it was. Gale Hawthorne. Katniss' ex-best friend from District Twelve. She wondered what what he was doing here, but instead of asking him, she decided to play a little.

 

 

"Well, well. I didn't know our new President delivered men as part of her service to Panem, but I'll gratefully accept you as a package, handsome."

 

 

Gale's lip twitched and he scowled at her. Obviously, he didn't find her amusing. Oh, well. He wasn't the first to feel that way and he certainly wouldn't be the last. "Mason, I have a letter from President Paylor. I was given instructions to hand it to you personally. That's why I'm here."

 

 

Johanna put her hands on her hips and stood before him. "Okay, handsome. Whatever you say, but I think I'd prefer to read that letter in the comfort of my room, if you don't mind." She moved forward and opened the door to the District Seven suite. Then turned back to look at Gale. "Well, don't just stand there. Come in."

 

 

It was hilarious how awkwardly he moved, as if he were in a foreign and dangerous land. That was smart, because while Johanna wasn't violent, she was a wild card and you'd need to be careful around her.

 

 

She waited for him to come inside, then she closed the door and took the letter, giving him a saccharine smile. His deer in headlights expression had her biting her tongue to hold back laughter. However, there was also a bit of pain in his gaze. Pain that, no doubt, could be attributed to his broken relationship with Katniss.

 

 

In a way, Johanna and Gale were kindred spirits. Both of them had lost people who were dear to them. Of course, Johanna had been through far worse. All of her friends and family had been executed because she refused to play the victor whore like Snow wanted her to. She had to learn to be okay with it being just herself and that wasn't easy at all.

 

 

Gale at least had his family. They were still safe and alive. He would never have to live in fear that someone might kill them off to send him a message. The Capitol had fallen and many of its allies were surrendering left and right. The rebellion's job was easy right now, and it probably would be so for a long time.

 

 

Still. The young man before her may have a living, breathing family, but the one thing he didn't have was Katniss, and Johanna knew that was eating him up inside. The idea that he could very well be responsible for his once best friend's little sister's death must be like a nightmare for him.

 

 

"It never gets easier, does it?" She said, accidentally letting part of her thoughts slip into speech.

 

 

"What?" Gale looked at her in confusion.

 

 

"Knowing that you're alive and could be the direct reason that someone you love is dead."

 

 

"How do you know that?!" He asked sharply. 

 

 

"Relax, handsome. I wasn't trying to hit a nerve. You and I have a little in common, didn't you know?" She sent him a bitter smile and tossed the letter on the table before sitting on her couch.

 

 

Gale looked like he wanted to sit down too, but was fighting the impulse to turn and walk out the door. Not that Johanna would blame him if he did. Opening up was hard, but there was something cathartic about talking to a stranger.

 

 

"Hey, no one's forcing you to have a heart-to-heart with me, but no one's stopping you, either."

 

 

"Why do you care?" He blurted the words out before he could think the better of them.

 

 

"Because talking to someone who actually knows a little about the hell I've been through can be more helpful than talking to a head doctor who always tries to make me feel 'safe' and tell me that everything is going to be 'okay'. I'll take real conversation over bullshit pandering any day. Wouldn't you?"

 

 

"Yeah, I would." Gale looked at the front door, then slowly made his way to the couch and sat opposite Johanna. "The last thing anyone in this world can claim to be is **safe** or **okay**. Especially in the Capitol."

 

 

The marked disgust in Gale's voice was clear as day and Johanna had no qualms addressing it. "You really hate it here, don't you? This place must remind you of how the Capitol screwed the whole lot of us over in favor of pleasing themselves." She scoffed. "All their tacky finery, gratuitous adornments, ambience. For what? Nothing."

 

 

"You've got me sold. I feel the same way. The only reason I'm still here is because I have to wait for my transfer papers to go through."

 

 

"Ah. Now that Snow and Coin are gone, they can finally do things to the letter. Professional life. Tsk. So where are you going? Back to District Twelve?"

 

 

"No," he replied quickly. "Not if I can help it."

 

 

Johanna pursed her lips and crossed her arms, watching Gale carefully. His lips were drawn in a tight line and those gray eyes of his turned steely. It was like a part of him shut off when she mentioned the firebombed district.

 

 

"Sorry for bringing it up. That was a dumb question. Obviously, there would be too many ghosts for you to face if you went there...both alive and dead, I can imagine."

 

 

 

 

"Too many ghosts," he said in a low voice, staring at the floor.

 

 

"What about your family? Your mom and your siblings. Are they going to stay in Twelve?"

 

 

"I don't think so. My mom doesn't think it's healthy for the family to be separated any longer, so she was thinking about moving to Two so we could all be together again."

 

 

"Oh. Two. That's where you're transferring?"

 

 

"Yeah. I'll be training soldiers, teaching them how to fight, how to use weapons. Things like that."

 

 

Johanna nodded silently. "Military?"

 

 

"Mmhm."

 

 

"Good. That'll be a right fit for you. Sometimes we have to run away from home to realize what we need."

 

 

"That's almost poetic of you."

 

 

"Eh, just don't tell anyone. I'd hate to have to kill you." She gave him a smirk and pushed her body further down into the couch. "Katniss isn't the only ghost you can't face, is she?"

 

 

The half-smile on Gale's face faded away and a cautious, guarded look appeared on his features. "What?"

 

 

"Come on, Hawthorne. I'm not an idiot. When I first asked you about ghosts you left behind in Twelve, you weren't thinking of Katniss. Well, not only of her. Something tells me that you knew a long time ago that she was beyond your reach. Someone else you left behind in Twelve haunts you, and it's not her. Maybe it's her sister, but that's a small part of it."

 

 

"I don't even see where you'd get that from." Gale muttered. He was trying his damndest to hide his feelings, but Johanna could read him as easily if he were transparent.

 

 

"Mm, call it woman's intuition or years of observing people. There was someone you left back there, right? A girl you loved."

 

 

He scoffed and gave her a stricken look that was peppered with intensity. "You're wrong on one of those counts, Mason. I didn't love her."

 

 

"But you cared about her. Enough for her to haunt you after all this time. What was her name?" Johanna knew that the only reason a person could haunt someone so strongly is if the living were full of regret and hopelessness. She knew this because she had felt like that many days of her life after Snow murdered her entire family.

 

 

There were so many things she wished she had been able to say to them. Things she thought she could have done to spare them, but every time, her mind came to the same conclusion as always. Her friends and family were dead and there was nothing in all of the wonderful devices, machines and inventions the Capitol made that could bring them back.

 

 

Hope was the only thing stronger than fear, but what did you have when all things you hoped for were snatched away from you?

 

 

"Her name was Madge. Madge Undersee. She was the mayor's daughter and I didn't like her. Not at first. I think she held me in the same disregard because her smiles were always tight and forced whenever I came to her house."

 

 

Johanna raised her eyebrows at this. Her facial expression had "Please, explain," written all over it.

 

  
"Katniss and I went hunting every morning and sometimes, when the season was right for it, we'd pick strawberries in the meadow past the boundary fence. See, Madge's father may have been the mayor, but he always had a fondness for strawberries. So we'd pick a sackful for him and meet Madge at the back door of their house to sell them to her."

 

  
"Wow. Katniss told me that the two of you hunted, but I didn't know that you sold your goods to people. That's pretty daring, considering how dangerous Twelve is- ah, _was_. And the mayor never reported either of you?"

 

  
"No. He wasn't a bad guy, Mayor Undersee. He knew that were all having a pretty bad time of it, so he let us sell him strawberries on the side so no one would find out."

 

  
"Well, why did you not like his daughter, then? She wasn't mean to you, was she?" Johanna's voice cooed on the word _'mean'_ and she blinked rapidly at Gale in mock sympathy.

 

  
To her surprise, he laughed. "No. She was always nice. She was a lot like her dad. People like her, we called townies because they lived in town and had more money than the rest of us who lived in the poorer part of the district called the Seam. I know it was wrong, but I always resented people like the Undersees because they had fresh food, fresh clothes and not half as many worries as people from the Seam."

 

  
"A lot of the townies were smug and stuck-up, almost like people here in the Capitol, except they weren't living as high on the hog. Still, I didn't like it and I treated Madge pretty badly for a while. It was only after Katniss and Peeta came back from the games the first time that things changed."

 

  
Johanna noted curiously that Gale's tone had grown a bit softer and she had a feeling that he and this Madge had intimated some kind of relationship before the Quarter Quell. "You became lovers," she said simply.

 

  
"No. Not even close to that. Maybe we would have if things hadn't..." He sighed and ran a hand through his hair. "We started hunting together. After Katniss and Peeta came back, there was a lot of publicity and I figured that it'd be best for me to stay out of Katnissl' way for a while. I'd just gotten a job in the mines, so we didn't have time to go hunting anymore. Imagine my surprise when I finally get an off day, go hunting and what do I see? Madge in the middle of the woods with a bow and arrow in her hand."

 

  
"She followed you?"

 

  
"No, she and Katniss had been spending time together hunting without me while I was working in the mines. They'd go to Madge's house, but her mom always had bad migraines, so sometimes, they'd have to leave. Apparently, one day, Madge just asked Katniss to take her into the woods and she ended up liking it. Even after Katniss and Peeta went on their Victor's Tour, Madge kept hunting. She was pretty good at it, too."

 

  
Johanna smiled a tiny smile herself at this. It was kind of cute, to be honest. Not that she was going to to say that out loud. She knew better. "A mini Katniss, huh?"

 

  
"Almost. She used to be so scared of going out in the woods, but when I saw her, she was confident and determined. I laughed because it was the dumbest thing to me. This privileged girl going out to hunt, even when she always had food on her family's dinner table every night. It didn't make sense. Not until she told me why she was hunting."

 

  
"What did she tell you?"

 

  
"She said that she knew how hard it was for my family to get food every day and she decided to pitch in. She wasn't in school anymore and there's not much to do in Twelve, so she began to spend her days hunting. Every morning early, just like how me and Katniss would do it. Then she'd bring her catch to my house while I was at work. My whole family loved her after that, but it made me a little mad."

 

  
"Why? Didn't Katniss bring food for your family, too?"

 

  
"She tried. I never let her. Even though we both knew that she could feed a handful of families with the stuff the Capitol gave her family, I never let her give us food."

 

  
"Seriously? Why not? From what I know you two were as thick as thieves back then." She crinkled her brow and thought for a moment what it would be like if she were in his shoes. A nineteen year old male in a family of five who had to sign the tesserae several times each year to keep everyone fed. Then, going to work in the mines so there could be food on the table, even though it meant sacrificing time to go hunting. Katniss would still hint to get out of the house and because it was her morning tradition. She'd probably go by the Hawthorne's house and offer the food, only to have Gale turn it away, but why... Oh.

 

  
**Now** it made sense.

 

  
"You refused the food out of pride?"

 

  
Gale stiffened and he kept quiet, which was all he needed to confirm Johanna's suspicions.

 

  
She rolled her eyes. It figured. Men. "Hm. Since you were friends with Katniss, and I'm pretty sure you're not the sexist type, I'm guessing that it wasn't the idea of receiving help from a woman that also bothered you?"

 

  
"You'd be right in that assumption."

 

  
"What else was there, then?"

 

  
"After...everything that happened at the games, I started to realize that I was losing Katniss to Peeta. I guess it made me a little upset that she still wanted to help and be around after I kissed her."

 

  
"Hold on. You _kissed_ her?" That was a fact Johanna had not known.

 

Gale grimaced at the widened stare she sent him and looked away. He wasn't happy with telling her and felt a little embarrassed over it. "Yes, a couple of times. They were all mistakes, though. I was lucky she didn't feel awkward being around me after that, but Katniss was always good at stepping around the things she didn't want to discuss. Whenever we were together, she never brought it up."

 

  
Johanna could believe that. Katniss Everdeen was an expert of the whole stoic face, forget-and-regret kind of thing. It's what made Johanna like her more than most of the other tributes she had seen and met at the games. "She's better than me. If I were in her shoes, I'd have driven you crazy by bringing it up all the time just for kicks."

 

  
"I had a feeling you'd say that."

 

  
"Duh, brainless. I'm not hard to read." She waved her hand at him, gesturing for him to continue his story.

 

  
"I also didn't like the idea of her bringing food for my family because that was my job. My mom did her best and peddled her laundry services to people for a while. It's something she'd always done, ever since I was a kid, but Rory, Vick and Posy were getting older and we needed more income. So I started working in the mines. I became the man of the house and it was my duty to make sure everyone in the family ate before they went to school and before they went to bed at night."

 

  
Gale sounded so sure of himself when he said that, but he knew that he was wrong not to accept help. "I was an idiot to refuse Katniss' help. I got upset and saw it as charity. Her living in the Victors' Village didn't help things either. Guess I was a...a little jealous of her, too..."

 

  
The room was quiet for a moment and Johanna watched Gale again. She may have not been a head doctor, but she could see that talking about this was helping Gale. His stiff posture has loosened up a bit and there was a faint crack in that gray armor behind his eyes.

 

  
She let a few more moments pass before speaking. "Something tells me that Madge changed all of that."

 

  
"She did. Sometimes we hunted together and every time, she would follow me to my house and tell me that she wasn't leaving until I got my head out of my ass and let her help out. I tried my best to drive her away, but she stood up to me and said she wasn't going to listen to my excuses."

 

  
"Good girl. Sounds like I would have liked her."

 

  
"You would have. Madge was...she was sweet, but if you thought that she was an innocent little mayor's daughter, you'd be surprised. She was tough and she didn't pull any punches. I ended up regretting being such a jerk to her that I even apologized, and you know what she did? She kissed me and said that she forgave me a long time ago. I didn't deserve that. No other man would have either, but she was so willing to let go of the past and I found myself doing the same."

 

  
"She brought out the best in you," Johanna said softly.

 

  
Gale looked up at her and nodded. "She did. The girls I'd been used to, were only a means to an end for me. They liked how strong I was and the mutual attraction was all they needed to go behind the slag heap with me. Madge wasn't like that. She was the kind of girl who'd make you want to be a better man, make you want to protect her and keep her happy all the time. That...probably sounds sappy."

 

  
"Psh. Sappy, my ass. If you ask me, the world could use a lot of sap. Especially now. I think you're wrong, though."

 

  
"What do you mean?"

 

  
"I know a thing or two about being emotionally retarded, so don't take this the wrong way, but I think you did love her. You just didn't realize it until it was too late."

 

  
Gale blew out a breath and eyed Johanna. "Are you sure that you're not psychic? Because it feels like you just keep guessing exactly how I feel and it's a little creepy."

 

  
"Mm, no. Trust me. If I were psychic, I would have found a way to stop the Hunger Games years ago."

 

  
He didn't have anything to add to that, so he continued. "You were right. By the time I realized how I felt about her, it was too late. Can't say the same for her. Madge told me that she loved me ever since we first met. I...wasn't sure how to handle that, so I chickened out and told her that I really like her. It didn't faze her, though. She just looked at me and said, "Don't worry, Gale. You'll come around."

 

  
For the first time, he faltered in his speech and ran a hand over his eyes. Johanna stared at him in pure amazement, astonished that he'd been so willing to let her see this side of him. She wasn't one for intimate gestures, but she touched his hand with her own and squeezed it, encouragingly.

 

  
His eyes locked on her and he squeezed back. After a handful of silent minutes, he spoke again. "The next day was when Twelve was fire bombed. The peacekeepers got into their trucks and pulled out. Every last one of them. I knew what it meant. So me and bunch of guys went to peoples' houses, started pulling them out."

 

  
His hand began to shake and Johanna knew that the next words out of his mouth would be harder for him to say.

 

  
"We headed for the forest, far enough away from the District. I made sure my family was safe and went back for Madge and her parents. By that time, the bombing had already begun. When I reached her house, it was on fire. I heard her screaming inside and ran for the front door to try and get her out, but an explosion knocked me back and...by the time I came to, the whole house had gone up in flames."

 

  
A few stray tears slid down his face.

 

  
"It took three days to find her body under the wreckage. I did it alone. A few people offered to help, but once they got a good look at my face, they changed their minds. Nine hundred and fifteen people made it out. Nine hundred and fifteen out of eight thousand, but I could only think of Madge. Everything that I was too stubborn to tell her, now I'd never get the chance."

 

  
"Don't beat yourself up, Gale. Madge was a smart woman. I'll bet that she knew how you felt about her. Maybe...maybe that gave her peace in the end."

 

  
"I can only hope so." He wiped the errant tears away with the back of his free hand.

 

  
Johanna hated this. Helplessness. It was a shitty feeling. She'd started out teasing Gale and now, she was seeing him cry after baring his soul. She could tell that he hadn't allowed himself to grieve properly, instead, opting to lash out with anger and malevolence. Johanna understood him because she was a bit like him, herself.

 

  
Suddenly, before she could stifle it, she yawned tiredly. That sound made Gale blink and his posture changed. He was more alert and peered at her under worried eyebrows. "I've kept you up. I'm sorry."

 

  
"Don't be. This was something you needed. Never feel sorry for being able to heal." She cocked her head to the side and gave him a crooked grin. "I think you're going to be alright, Hawthorne, and you're not too bad either."

 

  
He returned the grin. "Ditto, Mason." Then, he stood up and she walked him over to the door. "Guess I'll see you around?"

 

  
"Depends. You transfer to District Two this week or next week?"

 

  
"President Paylor said it'll probably be next week when I ship out."

 

  
"Well, in that case, you will definitely see me around. I have a feeling that the letter you delivered for me was just the written version of the pardon Katniss arranged for the rest of the captured Victors."

 

  
"Makes sense." Gale smiled and a curious look appeared on his features. Bending down, he brushed his lips against the smooth expanse of Johanna's cheek. She didn't push him away or protest. The corners of her lips quirked up, but that was all.

 

  
"Taking liberties, Hawthorne? How shocking."

 

  
"Then, I'm in good company...Johanna." Gale turned to the door, opened it and walked out, whistling a soft tune as he rounded the corner and slowly disappeared from sight.

 

  
Johanna chuckled and closed the front door. She hummed to herself as she headed to her bedroom, removing her clothes as she went. What an unusual alliance she had started tonight, but there was not one ounce of regret in her body for it.

 

  
Being in Gale's company was very pleasing and relaxing. Johanna felt that she was getting glimpses of what made Madge fall in love with him. Maybe next time, she'd even let him see behind the tough exterior of her heart and open up to him as well. And who knows where they would go from there?

 

  
Anything could happen.

 

 

 


End file.
